Other Sports

ISLAMABAD: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission on Friday visited Zhangjiakou, a popular skiing destination for over a decade that attracts 1.5 million people annually. With Zhangjiakou zone events set to be staged at the foot of the iconic Great Wall of China, Beijing 2022 has underlined how this stunning backdrop can best showcase...

EDINBURGH: Ireland put themselves in the Six Nations driving seat with a 40-10 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. The 30-point winning margin equalled Ireland’s biggest ever over Scotland — 36-6 also at Murrayfield in 2003 — and was enough to take New Zealander coach Joe Schmidt’s side ahead of Wales, 61-20 winners in...

INDIAN WELLS: Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova needed six match points to grind out a 6-4, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka in a rare early marquee matchup at Indian Wells on Monday. The 27-year old Russian appeared to be ready to close out the third round match in the eighth game of the second...

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: FIFA’s Organizing Committee on Monday confirmed Manaus as a sixth city chosen to host soccer action at next year’s Rio Olympics. There had been fears in Brazil that the 41,000-capacity Amazonia Arena, built for last year’s World Cup at a cost of $270 million, would end up as a “white elephant”...

PESHAWAR: Ahmad of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Bilal Shoukat of Railways clinched the title of Mr. Pakistan and Junior Mr. Pakistan respectively in the 63rd National Bodybuilding Contests held here at indoor hall of PSB Coaching Center on Monday. A large of spectators turned up to see the glimpses of the contests of more than 120...

MELBOURNE: Formula One driver Giedo van der Garde said Saturday he would give up his right to race in the Australian Grand Prix, ending a legal saga which threatened to overshadow the season-opening race. “With respect to the interest of motorsport, and F1 in particular, I have decided to give up my legal rights to...

KABUL: Malika Yousufi lined her bike up alongside her teammates on a lonely road outside the Afghan capital, getting ready for her weekly training ride away from the disapproving stares of Kabul. Yousufi is part of Afghanistan’s Women’s National Cycling Team, a group that has been breaking new ground for women’s sports in Afghanistan and...

SYDNEY: Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says he will consider Karmichael Hunt for selection once the former rugby league and Australian Rules player has completed his six-week ban. Hunt, who joined the Queensland Reds at the end of last year, was fined A$2,500 ($1,955) by an Australian court on Thursday after pleading guilty to four charges...

TOKYO: Record breaking Japan superstar Kei Nishikori rose to fourth in Monday’s new world rankings, equalling Kimiko Date-Krumm as his country’s highest ranked tennis player. The 24 year old, who is the top-ranked Asian born man ever, tweeted: “Just saw the new rankings. Very proud of another step #4 this week.” Nishikori, last year’s US...

BELGRADE: The dedication to sporting excellence which moulded Novak Djokovic into the world’s top tennis player was preceded by a passion for skiing which remains one of his greatest joys, the 27-year old Serb told Reuters on Sunday. Cutting a relaxed figure following afternoon practice less than 24 hours after losing the Dubai Open final...

MEXICO CITY: A stomach virus caused world number two Maria Sharapova to pull out of the Acapulco International in Mexico just hours before her semi-final on Friday. “I’m really sorry to have to withdraw,” the top-seeded Russian said on her website (www.mariasharapova.com). “I had a great start to the event and was hoping I could...

Acapulco, Guerrero, MEXICO: Spanish tennis player David Ferrer returns the ball to US player Ryan Harrison during their Mexico ATP Open men’s singles semifinal tennis match in Acapulco, Guerrero State, on February 27, 2015....

DOHA: Wimbledon semi-finalist Lucie Safarova breezed through to her first ever Qatar Open final, comprehensively beating Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets on Friday. Left-hander Safarova won 6-3, 6-2 in a semi-final which she totally dominated and lasted little over an hour. The Czech broke the Spaniard’s serve in the second game of the first...

While Tiger Woods wrestles with back issues and sharply declining form and Vijay Singh has battled assorted health problems in recent years, veteran Jim Furyk is playing some of the best golf of his career. At the age of 44 and despite a few “dings, nicks and bruises along the way,” American Furyk is still...

BUENOS AIRES: Rafael Nadal, who suffered an upset defeat in the Rio Open semi-finals at the weekend, said on Monday he was confident of taking another step towards recovering his best form in Buenos Aires this week. The Spaniard, ranked fourth after Saturday’s loss to Fabio Fognini ended a run of 52 consecutive semi final...

LAHORE: Manger of the national cycling team which participated in the Asian Championship, Moazzam Ali Khan Monday said that Pakistan failed to win a medal in the Asian championship recently held in Thailand due to lack of facilities at home and other factors. “We are far behind in comparison with the other Asian countries and...

MARSEILLE: World number seven Stan Wawrinka was sensationally knocked out of the Marseille Open on Friday as he went down in the quarter-finals against world number 59 Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets. Ukraine’s Stakhovsky carved out a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 victory over the Swiss former Australian Open winner, and now meets Frenchman Gilles Simon. World...

DELRAY BEACH, United States: Donald Young toppled third seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to book a semi final showdown with Australian Bernard Tomic at the ATP Delray Beach Open. Young, ranked 56th in the world, withstood 11 aces from the 24th-ranked Dolgopolov in a match lasting one hour and 56 minutes....

PACIFIC PALISADES, California: Already a winner on the 2014-15 PGA Tour, Ryan Moore put himself in good position to claim another title by seizing an early one-shot lead in the Northern Trust Open second round on Friday. Three strokes off the pace overnight, the 32 year old American fired a three under par 68 on...

Wayne Rooney dove to win his penalty kick against Preston North End on Monday. That much we know, at least after Rooney himself basically admitting it to Preston goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckman. WWE wrestler Wade Barrett, clearly not a United fan, decided to call out Rooney anyways for his action, challenging him to the ring via Twitter: What...

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Chinese pair Gong Jinjie and Zhong Tianshi won the women’s team sprint title at the World Track Cycling Championships near Paris on Wednesday in a new world record time. The Chinese set a time of 32.034sec to beat Russians Daria Shmeleva and Anastasia Voynova into silver. Australians Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Mears upset...

MELBOURNE: Teenage world number one Lydia Ko revealed Wednesday she plans to retire at 30 and is about to start a psychology degree to prepare for life after golf. The 17 year old New Zealander, who smashed Tiger Woods’s record of reaching the top ranking when he was 21, said she wanted a second career...

Rookie NBA forward Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points, leading seven in double figures as the World team defeated the U.S. team 121-112 on Friday night in the Rising Stars Challenge at the Barclays Center in New York. In 23 minutes, Canadian Wiggins, who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, showed glimpses of someone who might play...

MOSCOW: Maria Komissarova has been told to forget about sport and move on with her life which is not easy for a freestyle skier who dreamed of winning gold at last year’s Sochi Olympics and now hopes only to walk again. This time last year Komissarova was among Russia’s brightest talents, heading into a home...

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Stan Wawrinka was untouchable on serve in the opening set as the Swiss powered into the semi-finals of the ATP Rotterdam World Tennis event on Friday with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Gilles Muller. Fourth seed Wawrinka will Saturday face second seed Milos Raonic, whose big serve accounted for a mere six...

RugbyU: Ireland beat Scotland 40-10 in Six Nations
By: Web Desk | 21st March 2015
EDINBURGH: Ireland put themselves in the Six Nations driving seat with a 40-10 win over Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. The 30-point winning margin equalled Ireland’s biggest ever over Scotland — 36-6 also at Murrayfield in 2003 —...

Sharapova battles past error-prone Azarenka
By: Web Desk | 17th March 2015
INDIAN WELLS: Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova needed six match points to grind out a 6-4, 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka in a rare early marquee matchup at Indian Wells on Monday. The 27-year old Russian appeared...

Olympics: FIFA gives Rio Games green light to Manaus
By: Web Desk | 17th March 2015
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil: FIFA’s Organizing Committee on Monday confirmed Manaus as a sixth city chosen to host soccer action at next year’s Rio Olympics. There had been fears in Brazil that the 41,000-capacity Amazonia Arena, built for...

Hunt’s Wallaby chances not dead, says Cheika
By: Web Desk | 6th March 2015
SYDNEY: Wallabies coach Michael Cheika says he will consider Karmichael Hunt for selection once the former rugby league and Australian Rules player has completed his six-week ban. Hunt, who joined the Queensland Reds at the end of last...

Japan’s Nishikori soars to world number four
By: Web Desk | 2nd March 2015
TOKYO: Record breaking Japan superstar Kei Nishikori rose to fourth in Monday’s new world rankings, equalling Kimiko Date-Krumm as his country’s highest ranked tennis player. The 24 year old, who is the top-ranked Asian born man ever, tweeted:...

Skiing U-turn made me a champion, says Djokovic
By: Web Desk | 2nd March 2015
BELGRADE: The dedication to sporting excellence which moulded Novak Djokovic into the world’s top tennis player was preceded by a passion for skiing which remains one of his greatest joys, the 27-year old Serb told Reuters on Sunday....

Sharapova and out as bug forces top seed to withdraw
By: Web Desk | 28th February 2015
MEXICO CITY: A stomach virus caused world number two Maria Sharapova to pull out of the Acapulco International in Mexico just hours before her semi-final on Friday. “I’m really sorry to have to withdraw,” the top-seeded Russian said...

By: Web Desk | 28th February 2015
Acapulco, Guerrero, MEXICO: Spanish tennis player David Ferrer returns the ball to US player Ryan Harrison during their Mexico ATP Open men’s singles semifinal tennis match in Acapulco, Guerrero State, on February 27, 2015....

Tennis: Safarova reaches Qatar final for first time
By: Web Desk | 27th February 2015
DOHA: Wimbledon semi-finalist Lucie Safarova breezed through to her first ever Qatar Open final, comprehensively beating Carla Suarez Navarro in straight sets on Friday. Left-hander Safarova won 6-3, 6-2 in a semi-final which she totally dominated and lasted...

Veteran Furyk still has the drive to do well
By: Web Desk | 24th February 2015
While Tiger Woods wrestles with back issues and sharply declining form and Vijay Singh has battled assorted health problems in recent years, veteran Jim Furyk is playing some of the best golf of his career. At the age...

Stakhovsky upsets Wawrinka at Marseille Open
By: Web Desk | 21st February 2015
MARSEILLE: World number seven Stan Wawrinka was sensationally knocked out of the Marseille Open on Friday as he went down in the quarter-finals against world number 59 Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets. Ukraine’s Stakhovsky carved out a 6-4,...

Young topples third seeded Dolgopolov
By: Web Desk | 21st February 2015
DELRAY BEACH, United States: Donald Young toppled third seeded Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Friday to book a semi final showdown with Australian Bernard Tomic at the ATP Delray Beach Open. Young, ranked 56th in the...

Moore takes early control at challenging Riviera
By: Web Desk | 21st February 2015
PACIFIC PALISADES, California: Already a winner on the 2014-15 PGA Tour, Ryan Moore put himself in good position to claim another title by seizing an early one-shot lead in the Northern Trust Open second round on Friday. Three...

Wayne rooney challenged to WWE
By: Web Desk | 19th February 2015
Wayne Rooney dove to win his penalty kick against Preston North End on Monday. That much we know, at least after Rooney himself basically admitting it to Preston goalkeeper Thorsten Stuckman. WWE wrestler Wade Barrett, clearly not a United fan,...

China win women’s team sprint world title
By: Web Desk | 19th February 2015
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France: Chinese pair Gong Jinjie and Zhong Tianshi won the women’s team sprint title at the World Track Cycling Championships near Paris on Wednesday in a new world record time. The Chinese set a time of 32.034sec...

Teen wonder Ko plans to retire at 30
By: Web Desk | 18th February 2015
MELBOURNE: Teenage world number one Lydia Ko revealed Wednesday she plans to retire at 30 and is about to start a psychology degree to prepare for life after golf. The 17 year old New Zealander, who smashed Tiger...

NED University girls retain Throwball title
By: Web Desk | 16th February 2015
KARACHI: NED University Girls retained their crown in IBA Sports Throwball Tournament when they beat Bahria University 2-1 in the final at IBA Campus on Monday. NED university team comprising of Erum Bukhari, Hunza Khan,Najiyya Siddiqui, Mahnoor Asif,...

NBA World team beat U.S. in Rising Stars challenge
By: Web Desk | 14th February 2015
Rookie NBA forward Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points, leading seven in double figures as the World team defeated the U.S. team 121-112 on Friday night in the Rising Stars Challenge at the Barclays Center in New York. In...

Komissarova just wants to walk
By: Web Desk | 14th February 2015
MOSCOW: Maria Komissarova has been told to forget about sport and move on with her life which is not easy for a freestyle skier who dreamed of winning gold at last year’s Sochi Olympics and now hopes only...

Wawrinka storms on serve to reach Rotterdam semi-finals
By: Web Desk | 14th February 2015
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands: Stan Wawrinka was untouchable on serve in the opening set as the Swiss powered into the semi-finals of the ATP Rotterdam World Tennis event on Friday with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Gilles Muller. Fourth...